supporting enterprise - RBS · PDF fileRBS FOUNDATION INDIA SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014 2 As a responsible stakeholder in the community, RBS is

© RBS Foundation India | The Royal Bank of Scotland N.V. For private circulation only.

RBS Foundation IndiaAnnual Report 2013 - 2014

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RBS Foundation India

The Royal Bank of Scotland N.V.

Maker Maxity, 4 North Avenue,

Bandra Kurla Complex,

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Postal Code 400051.

Tel.: +91 (22) 6623 2469

Fax: +91 (22) 6639 6925

Email: [email protected]

contents

Messages from our leadership

Country Executive, RBS N.V., India p 2

Chairperson, RBS Foundation India p 3

Chief Sustainability Officer, RBS PLC p 4

Director and Head, RBS Foundation India p 5

About the Foundation

RBS Foundation India p 7

Supporting Enterprise p 8

Project Foot Print p 11

Our projects

Livelihood enhancement through participatory

Natural resource management, Gujarat p 13

Livelihoods in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan p 15

Livelihoods in Ladakh p 17

Integrated livelihoods in the hills of Uttarakhand p 19

Livelihoods in Umaria, Madhya Pradesh p 21

Livelihoods in Simlipal, Odisha p 23

Eco tourism in Mangalajodi, Odisha p 25

Livelihoods in Kanha – Pench Corridor, Madhya Pradesh p 27

Livelihoods in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh p 29

Tribal Craft Development in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu p 31

Amchi livelihoods in Thane, Maharashtra p 33

Volunteer Engagement

Program and Outcomes p 35

Volunteer Speak p 41

The onward journey

Our people, their stories p 42

RBS FOUNDATION INDIA

SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE 2ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014

As a responsible stakeholder in the community, RBS

is keen on making a significant positive impact for

the society. Our focus is to address specific needs of

the underprivileged communities through strategic

engagement initiatives, offering them solutions that

are backed by grants and our skills, enabling them to

be integrated into the mainstream economy.

An excellent reflection of this positive impact is the

work being undertaken by RBS Foundation India. This

report is a testimony to the significant impact on the

community through the Foundation’s work, and

specifically its focus on enterprise development as a

means to facilitate financial inclusion. We firmly

believe that real empowerment provides the

excluded sections of our community the ability to

sustainably change their social and economic

conditions. Through the structured ‘Supporting

Enterprise’ program, the work carried out by RBS

Foundation India has resulted in integrating a

number of households into the mainstream economy

– a feat definitely desirable yet not easily attainable.

Our endeavour is to enable our people to become

active agents of sustainable and equitable

development by leveraging the infrastructure of the

organisation to promote, facilitate and implement

positive change in society. This, complemented

with the motivation of being a socially responsible

business keeps sustainability at the heart of RBS

and is well reflected in our engagement with the

community through RBS Foundation India.

peace by piece

the world is getting smaller

and its breaking into bits.

let’s put it back together.

peace by piece

the puzzle fits.

repairs can all be tended

by the tiniest of friends.

as working all together

peace by piece

the puzzle mends.

- Celia Berrell

message from the

country executiveRBS N.V., IndiaBrijesh Mehra

1


SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE

At RBS, we are very clear on the need to be a

sustainable bank in a sustainable world. We have

defined our sustainability programme to be about

much more than just environmental concerns, as

important as they are.

Economies and communities are being impacted by

a number of truly global trends such as shortage of

resources, environmental damage, population

growth and social inequality. Our efforts now are

therefore to integrate sustainability considerations

into our core processes as a bank, while also leading

the way in developing the communities in which we

operate. We need to ensure that the way we run our

entire business supports the new set of international

targets that will replace the UN’s Millennium

Development Goals.

Our businesses are working on these issues but we

know that many of our employees too are passionate

about promoting the bank's commitment to the

community. This is reflective of the work being

undertaken by RBS Foundation India, who through its

Supporting Enterprise program is encouraging the

economic development of communities as it strives

to include a significant section of the community in

the mainstream economy.

Embodying the RBS’ values of ‘Thinking long term’

and ‘Doing the right thing’, the work of RBS

Foundation India is helping RBS to achieve its goal

of becoming the ‘Most Trusted Bank’ by 2020, and

I commend the Foundation’s work wholeheartedly.

message from the

chief sustainability officerRBS PLCAndrew Cave

I have been fortunate to witness how the ‘Supporting

Enterprise’ program has visibly impacted the

development of communities across rural India. Over

the years, RBS Foundation India has helped create

sustainable livelihoods for over 87,000 households

across hundreds of villages in our country by

partnering with local NGOs and leveraging our

skilled resource-pool of employees who

wholeheartedly support volunteering initiatives like

‘Magic Hands at Work’. With each visit to our

Foundation sites I get to learn more, but more

importantly I see the power of rural India.

I take immense pride in the work that is being done

by RBS Foundation; it reinforces our commitment, as

a socially responsible bank, to our community.

message from the

chairpersonRBS Foundation IndiaPankaj Phatarphod

ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014 43


SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE 6

ecosystems - the forests, rivers, wetlands, grasslands,

and coral reefs also form the repositories of our

water and food security.

In working towards the sustainability agenda of RBS,

through the ‘Supporting Enterprise’ program, RBS

Foundation India implements several projects that

strive to make the markets work for the community

and environment - India’s natural ecosystems that

are rich in biodiversity and wildlife and of course our

life sustaining water and food sources. As a strategy,

the Foundation adopts a two pronged approach

which begins with the recognition of the inextricable

interlink between such critical ecosystems and the

communities that are dependent on them.

The strategy draws from the findings of the studies

carried out by World Bank, IUCN, MoEF and their

various research and policy documents that

demonstrate how natural resources are not only the

basis of subsistence for these communities but are

crucial for sustained economic growth. Thus,

implementing poverty reduction strategies that work

in tandem with the efforts towards protection and

sustainable management of natural resources is a

logical course in saving such critical ecosystems. A

good analysis of the community dynamics along with

prevalent subsistence practices, existing gaps and

the local supply chain helps us identify key

livelihood interventions and enterprises. This helps

create value chains that are required to reduce their

level of dependence on these ecosystems while still

enhancing their income levels.

The adaptive approach begins with the creation of

community based institutions (Gram Sabhas) that

strive to set up governance around the communities,

their livelihoods and the extent of natural resource

extraction. This is followed by building capacities of

individuals and institutions so as to enable them to

not only adopt the key livelihood interventions

needed to increase their incomes but also to work in

consonance with the state government plans aimed

at enhancing ecosystem, resilience through soil

moisture conservation, reforestation and adoption of

improved agricultural and horticultural practices.

Cumulatively, these projects have touched 87,000

families across the country and managing a program

of this magnitude would not be possible without the

support of willing hands from volunteers through the

‘Magic Hands at Work’ program. In 2013, volunteers

contributed 12070 hours at these project locations

to undertake volunteering work that included

teaching school children, preparing marketing

strategies, finding technical solutions to in-field

problems and gathering baseline, monitoring and

evaluation data by conducting surveys.

Our interactions with volunteers show that the

‘Magic Hands At Work’ programme works in two ways

- it makes a difference to the lives and experiences

of the community and affords the volunteers an

opportunity to offer their time and skill through

structured engagement providing them a window

into the ‘India’ that we do not normally experience at

our workplaces or even our holiday destinations. We

look forward to many more ‘Magic Hands At Work’

volunteers at the ‘Supporting Enterprise’ projects.

“As a financial institution with a strong presence in India, RBS strives to play its part in addressing the key challenges that dominate contemporary Indian society, viz. equitable growth, financial inclusion, women empowerment, environmental and ecological balance among others through its program of ‘Supporting Enterprise’ implemented by RBS Foundation India (RBS FI).”

In the last few decades, the country has seen much

debate between the ‘Greens’ and the ‘Growth’. While

empirical knowledge suggests that economic growth

has to be equitable and tempered with

environmental balance so that such growth can be

sustained for long term, the society is still faced with

the challenge of finding solutions to making the

market work for people and the environment.

The United Nations’ various protocols on

sustainability viz, the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change, UN Convention on

Biological Diversity, UN Millennium Development

Goals etc., emphasise the importance of tropical

forest ecosystems (such as the forests in India) as

major sinks of CO for mitigation of the impacts from 2

global warming, and as major repositories of bio-

resources (plant, fungi, animal that are used in food,

medicines, industry…) which form the bedrock of

economies while recognising the needs of the

community that are directly dependent on them for

food, fuel, fodder and cash incomes. Our natural

message from the

director & headRBS Foundation IndiaN Sunil Kumar

ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 20145



about the foundation . . .

RBS Foundation India Supporting Enterprise

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is a large

international banking and financial services

company. Headquartered in Edinburgh, RBS serves

over 30 million customers worldwide. As part of its

sustainability mandate, RBS believes in inclusive

growth and demonstrates it by supporting local

communities in the countries in which it operates.

RBS implements several programs to promote

enterprises, with a special focus on livelihood

generation, youth and women.

RBS India in line with the global objectives works

towards economic inclusion for those excluded from

the mainstream economy. By identifying the long

term challenges that are faced by the communities, it

strives to create platforms that would enable

economic empowerment and facilitate social

inclusion. This is carried out through RBS Foundation

India. (Referred as the Foundation in this report.)

In India, our commitment to the communities started

in September 2003 - with the launch of our

MicroFinance business. After three years of lending,

and establishing ourselves as industry leaders in

India, we felt the need to support MicroFinance

Institutes in the under served regions of India i.e.

North and North East. This led to the launch of a

three year MicroFinance Technical Assistance

program wherein 37 small MicroFinance Institutes

were supported, improving their operating

efficiencies, governance, systems and processes thus

enabling them to scale up their operations and

benefit many more lives. The program came to a

successful closure in 2010.

Our interactions with the community helped us

understand that while access to credit is important, it

is not sufficient to eliminate poverty. A poor

household is faced not only with lack of access to

finance, but also lack of access to markets and

technical knowledge to improve production or adopt

ways to improve vocational inefficiencies or simply

even develop an alternative vocation. These issues

are further aggravated for those who live in remote

geographical locations that keeps them away from

mainstream markets and society - primarily forest

dwelling communities that are dependent on natural

resources such as water and forest resources. These

findings led to the launch of the ‘Supporting

Enterprise’ programme in 2007. The aim of the

‘Supporting Enterprise’ programme is to facilitate

enterprise development for those that are

dependent on the resources of the country’s critical

or important ecosystems.

The RBS Foundation India, Annual Report 2013-14 is

a comprehensive representation of the work being

undertaken through the ‘Supporting Enterprise’

programme and its impact on communities we

support.

Why Enterprise?

In the last two decades, India has seen phenomenal

economic growth making it the 10th largest

economy in the world. Economic liberalization,

expansion of service industry, rise in private

consumption and the large working population are

said to be key drivers for the growth. However the

outreach of the economic growth has been skewed;

significantly large portions of the population

continue to remain economically excluded i.e. they

are neither the contributors nor the direct

beneficiaries of the country’s economic growth. For

economic growth to sustain its growth trajectory, the

working age population needs to be economically

active. The excluded population primarily comprises

those who are economically inactive and is

characterised by subsistence means of livelihoods,

lack of access to capital and education.

The Planning Commission in its report of March 2012

on poverty estimates that 29.8% of India’s

population live below poverty line, largely residing

in rural India. The major causes for poverty, both

individuals and communities, are lack of access to

productive assets, markets, financial resources and

technology. High levels of illiteracy, inadequate

health care and limited access to social services

further add to the overall cause. To add to, poverty is

deepest amongst those that depend directly on

natural resources as a means for livelihood. An

interesting pattern emerges when the country’s

forest cover map is superimposed on the poverty

map - there is a significant overlap between poverty

and ecologically important forests landscapes. Rapid

environment degradation, loss of bio diversity and

loss of entitlement to resources further augments

poverty.

The factors impacting poverty are inter related, multi

dimensional and influenced by the diverse socio-

economic factors, resulting in a vicious cycle. Efforts

towards poverty alleviation can be sustainable if

economic inclusion strategies work in tandem with

enterprise development. These should focus on

enhancing production through improved natural

resource management and enabling market access.

Creating financial awareness thus enables them to

manage their thrift profitably, save to manage life

cycle risks and efficiently consume for better quality

of lives. A basket of livelihood activities are needed

to be developed for the household to ensure food

security, regular cash flow and help mitigate the risks

inherent to their livelihoods.

Why support communities dependent on critical

ecosystems?

Our natural capital i.e. land, water, forest, wetland,

coral and other ecosystems along with their

biodiversity and natural resources directly and

indirectly support the foundation of a society and it’s

economy. In India more than a 100 million people

7 8ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014



are unsustainably dependent on the resources of our

forest and wetland ecosystems. It is a known fact

that the world’s ecosystem is under threat and most

types of natural habitats are showing signs of severe

degradation, thus affecting their ability to deliver the

ecosystem services efficiently. In 2005, the UN

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found that 60%

of essential ecosystem services are being gradually

degraded or are being used unsustainably. This has

resulted in the incapacity of the ecosystem to

deliver the services, the impact of which is

disproportionately borne by those communities

who are poor and disadvantaged. This decline

also results in barriers to meet the Millennium

Development Goals and poses severe threats for

future generations.

It is therefore imperative to base livelihood

development on strategies that focus on

implementing appropriate natural resource

management practices and help enhance the

ecosystems resilience against the degradation being

imposed on them. Natural resources are the basis of

subsistence in poor communities and their

livelihoods are directly dependent on its

ecosystems. Poverty reduction strategies working in

tandem with the efforts toward protection and

sustainable management of natural resources is

therefore a logical and essential course for

sustainable development.

Our approach

We build our projects on a platform of collaborations

and partnerships between stakeholders, keeping the

community at the core and leveraging resources

from each of the stakeholder to augment enterprise

development. We have learnt that this approach

helps build up community’s ownership for

development and concurrently paves the way for

other developmental needs in a more integrated

manner.

£ At the onset of project design and development

phase, we partner with an NGO having requisite

domain knowledge, subject matter expertise,

experience of establishing Community Based

Organizations (CBOs) and understanding of the

applicable law / policy of the land.

£ Next, a detailed analysis of the prevalent socio-

economic conditions, community needs and

aspirations leads to identification of a set of

income generating interventions that include

both farm and non-farm activities. These are

designed keeping in mind the existing technical

and value chain gaps and form an integral part of

the project design. Local partnerships are

fostered with an understanding that the

partnership would bring in complementing

expertise and necessary resources during the

duration of the project.

£ A project steering committee comprising

representation from each stakeholder group gets

constituted which drives the project

implementation strategy locally, evaluates the

outcome of the project and brings in course

corrections if required.

£ We believe, implementing a development project

is a dynamic and evolving process and we strive

hard to create an environment that is conducive,

flexible and facilitates constant progress. This

approach requires knowledge and experience

based decision making that we bring in through

the stakeholder approach.

We believe each person and organization is a

stakeholder in the process of development and

continue our engagement with them at multiple

levels through a consultative process. We engage

with the Government through the Ministry of Rural

Development, Ministry of Environment and Forest,

National Biodiversity Authority; with financial

Institutions like NABARD, Reserve Bank Of India,

Indian Bank’s Association, industry bodies like FICCI,

CII, TERI, and NASSCOM; with educational institutions

like IIFM, XLRI, IRMA, XIMB, NMIMS, Symbiosis; with

multilateral organizations like Convention on

Biological Diversity, International Elephant Congress,

IUCN; Research organizations like Centre for Wildlife

Studies, Bombay Natural History Society, Wildlife

Trust of India, Wildlife Institute of India and

independent practitioners.

Continuous engagement with the stakeholders has

helped strengthen our strategy and implementation

process and infield learnings have been useful for

the stakeholders in their respective areas of work.

What are Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services?

An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plants,

animals, microbes, and physical environmental

features that interact with one another. Ecosystem

services are the benefits that humans obtain from

ecosystems, and they are produced by interactions

within the ecosystem. Ecosystems like forests,

grasslands, mangroves, and urban areas provide

different services to society. These include

provisioning, regulating, and cultural services that

directly affect people. They also include supporting

services needed to maintain all other services.

Some ecosystem services are local (provision of

pollinators), others are regional (flood control or

water purification), and still others are global

(climate regulation). Ecosystem services affect

human well-being and all its components,

including basic material needs such as food and

shelter, individual health, security, good social

relations, and freedom of choice and actions.

- Source www.unep.org

Supporting Enterprise continued ...

9 10ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014



project footprint

11 12ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014

Map showing RBS Foundation Indiaproject locations.

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

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Ongoing projectsS. No.

Livelihood enhancement through Participatory Natural Resource Management in Gujarat

Livelihoods in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan

Livelihoods in Ladakh

Integrated Livelihoods in the hills of Uttarakhand

Livelihoods in Umaria, Madhya Pradesh

Livelihoods in Simlipal, Odisha

Eco tourism in Manglajodi, Odisha

Livelihoods in Kanha - Pench Corridor, Madhya Pradesh

Livelihoods in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh

Tribal Craft Development in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu

Amchi Livelihoods in Thane, Maharashtra

Kolkata



livelihood enhancement through participatory natural resource management in gujarat

13 14

this view, RBS FI has partnered with Development

Support Centre (DSC) to increase the equity of

farmers in the agro value chain. It builds upon the

Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) system

established and managed by the combined efforts of

DSC, Gujarat State Government and National Dairy

Development Board (NDDB) for 40000 farmers in 4

districts of Gujarat.

The phase I of the project was implemented from

2008 to 2011. It focussed on a) Increasing

productivity, b) Reducing costs, c) Mitigating risks,

d) Creating access to markets and e) Value addition.

Several pilots that demonstrated improved practices

included soil testing, use of improved variety of

seeds, practice of System of Root Intensification

(SRI), and measured use of water and fertilizers for

variety of crops. Measures like Crop diversification,

micro irrigation systems, reintroduction of organic

manure and horticulture were initiated for risk

mitigation. The pilots were successful and the

learning’s from these pilots were systematically

disseminated through site visits, farmer to farmer

discussions, local radio talk shows, road shows,

theatrical groups, local magazine, literature etc.

At the end of Phase I, the outcomes were:

a) Increased productivity in the range of 23% to

167% for crops like paddy, wheat, cotton, maize,

castor, papaya, watermelon, musk melon, chilly,

capsicum, groundnut, pulses and spices b) Reduction

of input cost from 25% to 50% on account of

rationalized use of seeds, fertilizers and water. Also,

the adoption of improved practices resulted in a net

increase in income, in the range of INR 10,000 - INR

20,000 per hectare. Another notable outcome was

the emergence of women as key stakeholders in

agriculture and several small enterprises set up by

women SHG’s for producing organic manure and

value additions like spice and pulse processing. Yet

the challenges of price discovery and direct access

to markets remained.

Phase II of the intervention was initiated in 2012.

This phase focussed on formalising a primary goods

producer owned collectively in the form of a

producer company, the benefits of which were

shared by the producers in an equitable manner. The

producer company would aggregate the demand for

input supply, aggregate products and establish

market linkages, in addition to this, credit and

channelise government programs to the producers.

Also, an IT network to disseminate weather,

technology and market information is being

established to ensure the information reaches

farmers on time.

This model has gained recognition and is being

implemented by DSC in other PIM areas of Gujarat

and Madhya Pradesh.

Agriculture is the primary occupation of 60% of

India’s population. It is an occupation whose

financial viability is interrupted by a series of factors

such as reduced land holdings, low productivity of

land, increasing cost of cultivation, dependency on

monsoons, and lack of access to credit. This problem

is acute for small and marginal farmers.

Since the first 5 year plan, there have been

technological advances in terms of agriculture input

supplies including introduction of high yielding

seeds, improved irrigation facilities and access to

finances - yet the resultant impact on small and

marginal farmers has been limited. This can be

attributed to the lack of access to information and

technology to small and marginal farmers, who

continue to rely on the traditional farming practices.

Further, the advances in agriculture sector continue

to be driven by input supplies with inadequate focus

on transfer of technology and scientific knowledge,

with little emphasis on creating access to markets.

Increasing the participation of farmers in the agro

value chain is thus seen as an opportunity in

ensuring the long term viability of agriculture. With

NGO: Development Support Centre

Location: District Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Amreli

and Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Duration: 2008 - 2015

Outreach: 40,000 farmers, 180 villages




livelihoods in sawai madhopur,rajasthan

15

and its long term sustainability, measures like

optimisation of inputs (natural resources), better

technology, developing a basket of livelihood,

developing vocational skills, and social inclusion for

management of natural resources are necessary.

Sawai Madhopur is a peri urban district; most of it

covered by reserve forest and protected area. About

90 villages with a population of ~ 1.5 lacs are

directly dependent on the forest for livelihoods and

survival. The communities continue to practice

traditional methods of income generation like

agriculture, dairy, NTFP and firewood collections,

thus further aggravating degradation and thereby

compromising on future livelihood security. We

currently partner with Ranthambore Foundation to

create a model that develops options for creating a

basket of livelihood activities and promote

sustainable agriculture. These activities include

vocational training that enables youth to seek

employment in the local service industry, training

youth in ‘Ranthambore School of Art’ - an

economically viable medium of art and small women

led enterprises such as carpet weaving centres and

tailoring units. While carpets are exported to Jaipur

and other nearby towns, the stitching units earn from

the local interest and demand. These alternate

livelihoods gradually help the community build a

small but usable capital base, improve agriculture

productivity and gradually build resilience to risks

that are often associated with natural resource based

livelihoods. Over a period of time it has been

noticed that the community is able to optimise and

reduce the dependency on natural resources.

Having established a functioning model, the phase II

of the project will focus on scaling up of the model.

This will result in including several more villages and

its households into the project fold to achieve

impact at a district and landscape level.

Economic exclusion is one of the main causes for

financial exclusion. There are several other factors

that also contribute towards economic exclusion -

social exclusion, lack of enterprise, limited access to

markets and formal credit sources, low skills, low

income or assets, lack of awareness, subsistence

existence and illiteracy. This issue is further

aggravated for those communities which depend on

natural resources for income generating and

sustenance activities. Perceptively, natural resources

are considered in abundance, however in reality, the

increase in population and lack of livelihood

alternatives leads to an increased dependency on

natural resources thus leading to severe degradation.

Therefore, in order to facilitate economic inclusion

NGO: Ranthambore Foundation

Location: District Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan

Duration: 2011 - 2016

Outreach: 700 households, 3 villages

16ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014



livelihoods in ladakh

17

We have partnered with Nature conservation

Foundation and Leh Nutrient Project to support

local communities to enhance existing livelihoods,

develop newer income generating options that

have a local supply and value chain. Along with

livelihoods, we are also working with several

schools to impart environment education to youth

and children.

The communities depend on melting glacier waters

for agriculture and domestic use. The agriculture is

fully dependent on gravity irrigation as there is no

rain fed agriculture. As an outcome of climate

change, the small glaciers and permanent snowfield

are melting and hence affecting irrigation for

agriculture. Through the project, the system of

artificial glaciers is being developed. Artificial glacier

is an intricate network of water channels and dams

along the upper slope of the valley. In winter, water

is diverted to the shady side of the mountain where

it can freeze. Structures to retain water are built

down the slope to retain the water and facilitate

freezing. The artificial glacier is created between the

village and the natural glaciers (that are slowly

receding) to ensure melting at different times and

assure continuous supply of water. This technique

has ensured timely availability of water for irrigation

and optimal agriculture production for the

community. An area of 1500 hectare and 2850

households have benefited from the intervention.

Improved transport facilities have led to exponential

growth in tourism in Ladakh and as a result tourism

has become the largest contributor to the local

economy. Similar to other popular nature based

tourist places, the outreach of the benefits derived

from tourism remain limited, giving rise to disparity

of income in the region and leading to degradation

of the closely knit social fabric existent in the region.

To channelise tourism revenue to the local

communities the project has facilitated 22 home

stays, 6 eco-cafes and a handicraft based enterprise.

To make the economically active population of

tomorrow that largely consists of children and youth

conscious towards the needs of the environment,

environment awareness programs have been

designed. Through pre-designed modules, the youth

are made aware of the environment, the various

issues on climate change, local biodiversity and the

importance of ecosystem conservation.

Leh forms a part of the Ladakh region which is

approximately 97,000 sq km. It is the largest part of

the Trans-Himalaya landscape and is characterised

by high altitude (>3,500 m), harsh climate, and a very

short growing season (May-September). Local

communities are traditionally pastoralists & agro-

pastoralists and have evolved to a distinct lifestyle

and culture. They have maintained a delicate balance

between their needs and nature’s capacity to supply

these through various social, religious-cultural and

economic mechanisms. The once remote region of

Ladakh has witnessed a dramatic transition in the

past few decades due to better access (transport),

improved communication, and growth of tourism.

Exposure to different set of influences is leading to

dilution and disruption of the systems that had

evolved over generations. The region is being

subjected to a range of changes detrimental for

traditional and sustainable livelihoods. More over,

the impact of global climate change is evidently

visible in Ladakh and has translated into negative

impacts on traditional livelihoods.

NGO: Nature for Conservation Foundation

(NCF) and Leh Nutrition Project (LNP)

Location: District Leh, Jammu & Kashmir

Duration: 2012 - 2015





integrated livelihoods in the hills of uttrarakhand

19

of livelihoods comprises dairy, apiculture, spice

cultivation and sericulture. Although these are

traditional livelihoods, they result in little surplus.

Adopting a value chain approach includes increasing

the production capacity, backward linkages, access

to finance and markets. Sustainability is strongly

woven into each intervention that factors the

appropriate use of natural resources and aims to

reduce the negative impacts if any.

Development of dairy includes cattle breed

improvement, access to health care, fodder

cultivation and stall feeding. With breed

improvement, the number of cattle with the

household has reduced. Fodder cultivation and stall

feeding has in turn reduced the cattle grazing in the

forest. An ancillary outcome of stall feeding is

increased production of organic manure. The

increase in milk production has also led to nutrient

sufficiency for the household and surplus is sold in

the local market.

Apiculture includes establishing traditional wall

units of bee colonies in a scientifically developed

bee box. This enables higher production, better

harvesting practices and easier division of colonies

to establish more bee boxes. There is anecdotal

evidence that presence of bees in the area has

increased the agriculture productivity upto 20%.

Improved practices of spice cultivation and usage of

better quality seeds have been introduced to make

spice cultivation an economically viable crop. Spice

cultivation has also reduced crop raiding and hence

the loss arising out of it. Use of organic manure has

enabled the community to get an organic

certification and seek better prices from the market.

The livelihood interventions are built upon robust

community governance established by formation of

SHGs and federations. A producer owned company

has been established to undertake sale of produce.

Each household has undertaken at least 2 livelihood

activities. Several entrepreneurs from the local youth

have been developed in the value chain as milk

aggregators, carpenters to make bee boxes,

technicians to harvest honey, para vets for cattle

heath care and more. With the value chain under the

management of the community, a sustainable

economy is being developed in this region. A

stakeholder based approach has resulted in the

community taking ownership of natural resources.

Mountain ecosystems are known for their rich

biodiversity and are a vital economic and ecological

resource. Although they occupy one fifth of the

world’s surface area and house only one tenth of the

population, yet more than half of the world’s

population uses the services provided by these

ecosystems. Mountain communities generally live in

small isolated populations and survive in tough

terrain using their traditional and indigenous

knowledge. They incidentally are also one of the

poorest communities as they themselves are not

able to utilise mountain resources like water and

with limited access to alternate opportunities

continue to remain poor. The northern state of

Uttrakhand is one such example where 37% of the

population lives below the poverty line.

We have partnered with a local NGO - Appropriate

Technology India (ATI) to support 2,000 households

in 90 villages in Pauri district in developing a basket

of livelihoods. ATI integrates the traditional

livelihoods of the community with a value chain and

natural resource management approach. The basket

NGO: Appropriate Technology India (ATI)

Location: District Pauri, Uttarakhand

Duration: 2010 - 2016





livelihoods in umaria,madhya pradesh

21

women play in the rural economy and it attempts to

formalise their role in enterprise development and

empowers them to take decisions through self

governing forums.

Since the inception of the project in 2010, it has

mobilised 370 women from 8 villages into forming

27 SHGs and inculcated a habit of regular meetings,

savings and inter lending amongst themselves. Bank

accounts have been opened for each of the SHGs.

Through the SHGs, the households have been

motivated to build a capacity to adopt a basket of

livelihoods comprising at least two farm and one non

farm products. The farm based intervention includes

introducing a package of new and improved

agriculture practices, addition of new crops like

spices, horticulture and implementation of

techniques like intercropping and multi cropping.

Non farm intervention includes supporting micro

enterprises like small shops, flour mills, cycle repair,

mobile repair, tailoring, poultry, Non Timber Forest

Produce (NTFP) aggregation and more. Backward

linkages are facilitated through the local markets and

input suppliers. Forward linkages are established

with local markets. BNP being a tourist area offers a

significantly large seasonal market for local produce.

With non forest based livelihood becoming

remunerative, the dependence on forest is expected

to gradually reduce. The hotel association has been

brought in as a stakeholder to help facilitate direct

market linkages with its member hotels. The

challenge however is to match the demand with

supply at the right time.

The initial years of the project have also in parallel

focussed on creating self governance within the

SHGs, increasing agricultural productivity, setting up

micro enterprises and establishing market access.

The house holds have evidenced higher food

security and cash incomes. These have enabled the

households to access better heath care, higher

education, and more importantly reduced

dependency on the money lender. Spice cultivation

has reduced the crop raiding to an extent and the

basket of livelihood activities mitigates the risk

arising from agriculture loss and livestock

depredation. The most important outcome of the

project is the enhanced role that women now play in

their house holds and the local economy.

The success of the model is now being scaled up.

Village youth are being trained to provide technical

assistance to the households and facilitate linkages.

With scale, women plan to federate the SHGs into a

Community Based Organisation (CBO). The CBO is

expected to aggregate input supply, aggregate

produce to fetch better price from the market and

link with various eligible government schemes in the

region.

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) is located in the

north eastern part of Madhya Pradesh and

encompasses an area of 1,161.47 sq km. There are

several villages spread across this area and are

mainly located on the periphery of the Bandhavgarh

National Park (BNP). The close proximity of the

villages to the forest makes man - animal conflict an

intrinsic characteristic of the region and instances of

livestock depredation and crop raiding are a part of

the local community’s lives. While there is no one

step solution to solving these conflicts, interventions

designed to reduce the losses arising from such

conflicts can not only change the attitude of the

community towards wildlife but can also provide

sustainable alternative sources of livelihoods.

With this view, we have partnered with Indian

Grameen Services to develop a basket of livelihoods

for 450 households. The project aims to build and

strengthen local value chains for farm and non farm

products. The project focus is on the role that

NGO: Indian Grameen Services (IGS)

Location: District Umaria, Madhya Pradesh

Duration: 2010 - 2017





livelihoods in similipal,odisha

23

households in 31 fringe villages of STR. Initiated in

2009, the project in the first 3 years of

implementation focussed on i) Enhancing agriculture

productivity by promoting practice of System of Root

intensification technology ii) Building small farm

based enterprises by encouraging improved

vegetable farming and setting up small scale

commercial poultry units iii) Establishing market

linkages by creating collection centres in the villages

and iv) Creating robust community owned

institutions viz. village development committee and

Self help groups (SHGs) through continuous

mobilisation of the community.

The intervention has been designed so as to build

upon the existing skill sets of these communities for

good adoption rates, ensure acceptability and thus

sustainability. In doing so, the evident outcomes are:

i) Rise in the agricultural yield by 25-40% while

inputs (seeds, labour) reduction by ~ 50% resulting

in an average additional increase in income of INR

1000-1500 per month. ii) Vegetable farming being

done on an acre of land is providing INR 3000-4000

profit per month and those households that have

adopted poultry are earning an average profit of INR

6000-8000 and iii) Cumulative savings of ~ 15 lakhs

has been achieved within the 78 SHGs.

Although the first three years have lead to visible

impacts in these villages, bigger challenges remain.

Since 2013, the project has started addressing the

prevalent water scarcity and land degradation in the

region.

For this, command area of 250 acres has been

brought under the land and water development

activities by leveraging on various government

initiatives. The next few years will focus on

extending these land and water development

activities to increase soil moisture in the villages

leading to an increased cropping intensity. It will

also focus on enabling the community to take up

government projects on Natural Resource

Management by preparing a comprehensive village

action plan and at the same time continue to reduce

the community’s dependency on forests and its

resources by ensuring enhanced incomes and better

ecosystem resilience.

The Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) is a compact block

of elevated plateau spread across 2,750 sq km

located in the central part of the Mayurbhanj district,

comprising 1,195 sq km of core and 1,555 sq km of

buffer area. STR forms a part of the larger Simlipal

Biosphere Reserve (SBR). It is a representative

ecosystem under Mahanadian Biogeographic Region

and one of the seven biosphere reserves in India

identified under the Biosphere Programme of the

UNESCO - with the broad objective of conservation

of the area. There are 65 villages in STR comprising a

population of ~10,000 households. 73% of this

population is tribal and dependent on the forest and

its biodiversity for livelihoods. The livelihoods

primarily comprise subsistence rain fed paddy

cultivation, Non-timber Forest Products (NTFP)

collection from the forest, migration for wage labour

and illegal felling of trees.

We have partnered with Indian Grameen Services

(IGS) to provide livelihood services to 1,500


Location: District Mayurbhanj, Odisha

Duration: 2009 - 2018

Outreach: 1,500 households, 31 villages




eco tourism in mangalajodi,odisha

25

flocking to the region from as far as Russia and

Mongolia each winter. It is a notified Important Bird

Area by Birdlife International and part of the Chilka

Lake which is a designated Ramsar Site. Diminishing

fish catch and lack of alternative livelihoods

opportunities had led to unsustainable levels of

poaching by villagers which had reduced the

migratory bird arrivals to a mere 5,000 in the year

2000. Over a period of time, Mangalajodi became

infamous as a village of bird catchers as virtually all

species were trapped or shot, to be eaten or sold in

the market as delicacies. A local NGO, Wild Orissa

concerned with the loss of birdlife intervened and

through rigorous engagement with the community

based on social and ethical reasoning convinced a

few villagers to take up conservation measures.

These villagers led from the front with the belief that

these flocking birds are the village guests and thus

it’s the community’s responsibility to protect them.

With persistent protection measures the poaching

had gradually reduced but the situation was tenuous

in the absence of alternative sources of livelihoods.

We partnered with Indian Grameen Services to set

up a community owned and managed ecotourism

enterprise that was set up in 2010.

The Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust comprises 50

members and 10 of the members constitute its

governing Board. The governing Board is in charge of

overall management of the trust. The trust offers 2

kinds of employment to the members: a) For Birding

services – Boatman and Guides and b) For

Hospitality Services – Cooks, cleaners, maintenance

staff. Over the last 3 years, a series of capacity

building and technical training programmes have

been imparted to the members to enable them to

govern and operate the trust. All members on a

rotation basis undertake protection measures like

patrolling the marshes or educating the villagers to

ensure that poaching doesn’t resurface. Currently

marketing and finances of the eco-tourism

enterprise are being professionally managed.

The Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust offers a 30 bed

lodging and boarding facility. During the last season

beginning November 2012 and closing in February

2013 it hosted more than 1,000 tourists and

conducted 350 boating trips. The Trust has earned

surplus in the last 2 seasons. Tourism inflow has led

to emergence of several micro enterprises in the

village like taxi services, internet cafes etc.;

generating more livelihoods.

The Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust is now confident

of hosting twice the number of tourists during the

next season. The intent is to gradually move towards

making the trust a self dependent and profitable

enterprise, the benefits of which shall continue to be

utilised by the community as well as the migratory

guests of the village. With Mangalajodi becoming a

popular and remunerative tourism destination, it is

catching the attention of few big hotels chains.

Warding off competition and ensuring a balance

between economics and environment is a challenge

the Trust would face in near future.

According to the World Trade and Tourism council

estimates in 2011, the tourism industry contributes

6.4% to India’s GDP and generates 7.9% of its

employment i.e. 39.3 million jobs. With an expected

growth of 7.8%, the sector represents significant

potential for generating livelihoods, especially rural

livelihoods where the share of eco tourism or rural

tourism is steadily increasing. Ecotourism with its

inherent potential of unifying conservation,

communities, and sustainable travel makes it a

viable livelihood proposition for the communities

residing near ecologically important regions such as

forest, wetland and desert ecosystems.

Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust is a community owned

and managed ecotourism facility promoted by RBS

Foundation India in partnership with Indian Grameen

Services (IGS). Based on the principles of community

ownership and Eco Tourism, Mangalajodi represents

a business model that is both economically viable

and environmentally sustainable. Mangalajodi is a

fishing village settled in the marshy shores, north

east of Chilka Lake and is a host to more than 200

species of resident and migratory birds that come


Location: District Khorda, Odisha

Duration: 2008 - 2014

Outreach: 500 households, 1 village




livelihoods in kanha-pench corridor, madhya pradesh

27

livelihoods and the lack of any alternate or

additional source of income has resulted in low

standard of living for the resident community. Due to

abject literacy and ignorance, there is lack of

awareness and perception about the developmental

activities. The communities have remained isolated

from mainstream development, and owning to their

traditional dependence on the wilderness, continue

to remain so socially and economically.

We have partnered with Foundation for Ecological

Security and PRADAN to work with 12,500

households in 175 villages to enhance income

from agriculture, develop a basket of livelihoods

options that will progressively reduce community

dependency on the ecosystem resources. The

initiative aims to promote household enterprise,

sources of energy for kitchen and lighting and

vocational training for youth for employment in

adjoining districts.

The interventions are designed basis village level

plans based on land and water resources. They work

at household level to enhance productivity from

agriculture through a combination of watershed /

irrigation and on-farm practices. Alternative sources

of livelihoods are added through backyard poultry,

kitchen gardening, and animal husbandry activities.

Village level institutions under the Panchayat Raj

and the Forest Conservation Acts viz the Gram

Panchayat, Eco-development committees, Bio

Diversity Management committees are strengthened

to motivate community participation in local

governance and formulate governance of extraction

of resources from the forest ecosystem.

The importance of restoring the Kanha – Pench

Corridor has gained much focus in recent times. The

fact that it also supports a significantly large tiger

Population, brings in interest and resources from

various national and global agencies. A Kanha Pench

symposium has been established by stakeholders

with the aim to bring together a group of researchers

and managers involved on issues directly related to

the sustainable management of the Kanha-Pench

landscape and its biodiversity. With an aim to

actively contribute to science-informed management

and conservation, this group includes officials and

managers in regional parks, researchers at local

organisations and students and faculty based in

universities.

Located in the Central Indian state of Madhya

Pradesh, the Kanha - Pench corridor region is an

important landscape of the country. Its bio diversity,

comprising flora, fauna with verdant forests and

meadows, providing food, fuel, fodder, timber and

other forest products for resident communities,

clean and abundant water makes it a globally

important source of renewable energy and carbon

storage. Spread over an area of 10,865 sq km, it is an

important source of ecosystem services through its

hydrology i.e part of the area is a watershed for River

Narmada.

In recent times, much of the corridor is facing

degradation. The villages depend on forests and

other natural resources for their day to day

sustenance. Their dependency varies from collection

of fuel wood and minor forest produce, livestock

grazing, unsustainable agriculture practices etc. This

sole dependency on natural resources for

NGO: Foundation for Ecological Security

(FES) and Professional Assistance for

Development Action (PRADAN)

Location: District Mandla, Balaghat,

Madhya Pradesh

Duration: 2013 - 2018





livelihoods in srisailam,andhra pradesh

29

their reliance on the forests for food gathering,

hunting and collection of Minor Forest Produce

(MFP). There are about 200 villages inhabited by

these tribes surrounding NSTR. Agriculture and cattle

rearing though practised have low economic value.

With restricted access to forest and its resources, low

education and skill levels, the population has limited

opportunities for developing or accessing alternate

sources of livelihoods.

We work with 16 villages, where our engagement

with the community has helped developed

sustainable livelihoods like dairy, demand based

hand made products and made value additions to

Non-timber Forest Products. Encouraging fodder

cultivation to reduce cattle grazing has resulted in

food fodder availability for the cattle resulting in

higher yields of milk and the farmers have been able

to earn an additional source of income by selling the

excess fodder in local markets. We have also

encouraged farmers to undertake vegetable farming

as it has resulted in providing a direct income to the

farmers, proving to be a sustainable source of

income if undertaken sincerely. Our work also

includes encouraging women to take up embroidery

which has led to desirable outcomes as they have

been trained to create products that are marketable,

have access to raw materials and be linked to

markets to sell their finished products. This too, has

led to a viable source of income for the community.

Individual biogas units have also been installed in

the households to reduce fuel wood dependency.

This in turn has helped the tribe improve their

standard of living and fortified conservation efforts

in the region.

Tribals or adivasis represent the indigenous

population of India. They comprise ~8% of India’s

population and majority of them reside in rural areas

and forests. Their livelihoods are closely intertwined

with forests and natural resources and they

undertake subsistence agriculture and extract forest

produce. They have low levels of literacy and health

and are amongst the most economically backward

populations in the country.

In Andhra Pradesh, we are working directly for the

benefit of three tribes - the Chenchus, Lambadas

and Erulas living around the Nagarjuna Srisailam

Tiger Reserve (NSTR). These tribes are classified as

aboriginal as they are the most primitive tribe in the

state, because of their subsistence way of life and

NGO: Conservation of Nature by Rural

Awakening (CONARE)

Location: District Mahboobnagar, Andra Pradesh

Duration: 2011 - 2015

Outreach: 1000 Households, 16 villages




tribal craft development in nilgiris, tamil nadu

31

many artisan communities these changes have

displaced the demand for their produce resulting in

loss of livelihood. The artisan communities today are

some of the poorest households in the country.

Besides the loss of livelihoods, the nation is also

losing the traditional skills or products that

represent our rich cultural heritage. A few

communities have however responded to the

opportunities that changes have brought in by

evolving into hand crafted niche or lifestyle

products. Establishing a viable handicraft based

enterprise not only leads to a sustained source of

income for the producer, but helps in reviving and

retaining our cultural heritage.

We have partnered with All India Artisans and Craft

workers welfare Association (AIACA) to work with

tribal communities to revive and rebuild handicrafts

as a source of income through an enterprise

approach. Women artisans are formed into producer

groups with a focus on building their capacity

through training and workshops on manufacturing.

This enables the groups to expand and streamline

their operations and become commercially

sustainable. The efforts have been further

complimented by creating market linkages for the

embroidered goods. The Todas who live

predominantly in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu

number less than 1,000 today and have been the

centre of much attention because of their

‘unlikeness to their neighbours in appearance,

manners and customs’. They possess a unique skill of

embroidery that is considered an art and is

protected from duplication. 125 Toda members are

part of this initiative. In the future, efforts will also

be made to explore the international market and

create linkages for exporting this traditional art.

The handicraft sector is the second largest

employment sector in the country, preceded by

agriculture and agriculture allied activities.

Traditionally handicraft is a home based industry,

using inherent skills and local resources to produce

utility products that are consumed predominantly in

rural and urban areas. Many agricultural and pastoral

communities depend on their traditional craft skills

as a source of cash income especially during times

of low agriculture produce, droughts, floods, and

other calamities. For some communities it is the sole

source of livelihood.

The recent decades have brought in much changes

into the lives of traditional artisans with the advent

of mechanisation and standardisation of these

products. The factory produced goods have steadily

replaced the handicraft products with cheaper and

standardised products that are also utility items. For

NGO: All India Artisans and Craftworkers

Welfare Association (AIACA)

Location: District Nilgiri, Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu

and Wayanad, Kerala.

Duration: 2012 - 2015





amchi livelihoods in thane, maharashtra

33

the help of our implementing partner, Population

First we began exploring income generating options

which were easy to learn and relevant to the needs

of their village. Interactions with the community

combined with field surveys revealed an annual

increase in farming and cultivation costs as a result

of rising cost of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and

seeds. Each year, the soil required larger quantities

of fertilizers and increased labour to prepare it for

cultivation. Yet the produce was diminishing in

quality. Farm soil had degraded due to continuous

use of chemicals. To counter this problem, we began

a vermi-composting project. Compost was made

using cattle dung and earthworms. Women were

comfortable working on the project as it required

raw material which is readily available at a small

price and it did not demand much time. The project

improved fertility of soil and provided a cost

effective alternative to chemical fertilizers.

This activity was also turned into a low investment

and less time consuming livelihood activity for the

women as it helped them earn an additional source

of income. Women were organized into Self Help

Groups and were trained in construction of the tanks,

production of vermi-compost and marketing.

Training, knowledge sharing and identifying nearby

markets ensured that the women earned income

from this activity.

We have also worked with these villages to set up

a rural tourism enterprise that over the course of

three years has started earning the community a

sustainable source of income. The concept of rural

tourism was explored and implemented as an

opportunity for rural communities to allow tourists

from India and abroad access into their towns and

culture. This became an effective method of earning

additional income for their community. The

community was trained in hospitality services to

cater to tourists who visit their village. The whole

enterprise is managed by the people of the village.

These local livelihoods developed continue to

generate a sustainable source of income for the

villages.

Financial independence is a crucial element of

empowerment which enables women to be decision-

makers at home and in their community. In Shahpur

block, Thane District of Maharashtra we have been

working in 4 villages with the intent of overall village

development through social and women

empowerment. Though the villages are close to the

urban centres of Thane and Mumbai, the income

generating options available with the communities

were limited. Farming was largely at subsistence

level. High rates of migration was leading to lack of

labour in the village and negatively impacting the

agriculture productivity. The lack of alternative and

sustainable livelihoods was pushing these villages to

abject poverty.

Our initial interactions with the community revealed

that the women were willing to be trained to

undertake work that would not interfere with

household chores and other responsibilities. With

NGO: Population First

Location: District Thane, Maharastra

Duration: 2011 - 2014

Outreach: 700 households, 2 villages.




volunteerengagementRBS Foundation India believes that people are

important for bringing about change in society. The

young talent in our cities has the skills and the drive

to make a difference to the lives of communities that

are not so privileged. We are thus committed to

offering this young talent a platform and a conducive

environment from which they can volunteer time

and skill for the community. In this endeavour, we

have learnt that engaging people in social causes

leads to both personal and professional growth.

Donating time, money and skill is inherent to Indian

culture. As part of their individual social

responsibilities, people are known to frequently

engage with communities and causes of social

relevance. With the recent focus and developments

on issues of climate change, loss of biodiversity,

poverty, financial exclusion and more importantly

practising sustainable development, the scope of

Individual Social Responsibility too is evolving.

With the aim to align and complement Individual

Social Responsibility with the Corporate Social

Responsibility mandate of RBS India, we initiated a

platform called Magic Hands At Work (MHAW) in

2008, with a dual objective:-

l Enhance one’s knowledge and skills on issues of

relevance in present times such as those of

Climate Change, Loss of Biodiversity, Poverty

Alleviation, and Sustainable Development.

l Promote and encourage volunteering on RBS

Foundation India’s ‘Supporting Enterprise’

Projects. MHAW program is usually conducted at

sites of RBS India Supporting Enterprises projects.

l Encourage and motivate a socially responsible

approach

Knowledge based associations with social causes or

knowledge driven actions have far reaching or

sustainable outcomes in relation to any kind of

social intervention or social change. The in-field

experience gained through MHAW enables one to

identify, understand and sensitise themselves to the

issues faced by the society and plan their actions

and interventions in alignment with the need.

Since its inception, MHAW has grown in popularity

amongst the organisation and has been customised

as and when to align with the evolving strategy of

RBS. Over a period of time it has been observed that

post being part of this program; volunteers have

been able to broaden their sphere of influence;

moving away from the notion of “feel good” to “be

better”. This has resulted in development of several

self initiated community actions with colleagues,

friends and family.

35 36

magic hands at work – programs and outcomes

Name of the Supporting Enterprise Project

Outcomes of the volunteering

Activities by volunteers

Livelihoods in

Sawaimadhopur, RJ

(9,260 hours)

Livelihoods in Umaria,

MP

(1,302 hours)

£ Engage with local school authorities

to understand non-academic

capacity building needs of children,

relevant for their career growth

£ Create modules for specific needs -

environment awareness, financial

literacy, career awareness and

personality development

£ Create a platform to facilitate a

continuous dialogue with children

£ Interactions with supporting

enterprise women entrepreneurs

£ Conduct a survey with the SHG

members to grade the SHG’s as per

the guidelines prescribed by Banks

and regulators

£ Interact with the SHG members and

understand their livelihood activities

£ 11,200 children in 42 schools and

20 villages have been informed of

career options and opportunities

through knowledge sharing sessions

£ Schools authorities have reported

that the presentation of modules

has built interest in children to seek

knowledge

What does it mean for the volunteer

Gains understanding of rural education

systems and rural enterprises

£ Grading of SHGs helps design and

develops a need based capacity

building program to strengthen an

SHG. Facilitates SHG linkages with

Banks


Learns functioning of rural economy


Livelihoods in Kanha-

Pench Corridor, MP

(2,489 hours)

£ Household survey to establish a

socio – economic baseline

£ Educate children and youth on

aspects of environment

£ The baseline survey helps in

designing of project intervention

£ Children and youth who constitute

the economically active population

of the regions in future are aware

about the impact of environment


Learns the delicate balance between

livelihoods and environment



Name of the Supporting Enterprises Project






Habitat For Humanity

(351 hours)

£ Build, rehabilitate and repair simple,

decent, affordable homes

Livelihood Enhancement

through participatory

natural resource

management, Gujarat

(682 hours)


baseline for input supply

requirements of farmers for all

cropping seasons

£ Household survey to establish the

produces by a farmer for all

cropping seasons

£ The data collected would feed in to

the Business plan for the Farmer’s

owned Producer Company


Gain insights into the agriculture

sector; first hand interactions with

farmers and their challenges

£ Contributes to efforts of building

low-cost housing, that helps

marginalised communities have a

decent and safe place to live


Learn how low cost homes are built

and how housing related services are

provided to low-income marginalised

families across India

Amchi Livelihoods in

Thane, Maharashtra

(682 hours)

£ ’Mystery shoppers’ or dummy

tourists for the rural tourism

intervention

£ Assess capacity building needs for

the tourism service providers

£ Village tourism management

committee gets to experience model

tourists which help build confidence

and set in place adequate systems

£ Co-operation with the actual tourists

before they arrive


Learns the role of enterprise and eco-

tourism in rural India

magic hands at work – programs and outcomescontinued ...

37 38ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014

Volunteering at Sanjay

Gandhi National Park

(888 hours)

£ Volunteer with the park

management to manage pilgrims

during the Mahashivratri Festival

£ Help park management to manage

the ongoing tree plantation and

watershed activities in the park

£ Better park management during

important festivals and contribute to

efforts for increasing the park’s

biodiversity


Understand the value of biodiversity

Under the Mango Tree

(24 hours)

£ Prepare process maps and operating

manual for the organisation

£ Improve Operational efficiency of

the NGO


Gain understanding on functioning of

a social enterprise

International Coastal

clean up.

(210 hours)

£ Collect trash from the beaches £ Helps keep the beaches clean, data

collected is documented as part of

the Ocean Track Index


Understand the importance of clean

coastlines, a clean environment and

one’s role in it









Livelihoods at Srisailam

(288 hours)

Livelihoods in

Mangalajodi , Odisha

(1,464 hours)

£ Conduct a mid term impact

assessment survey at a household

level

£ Value chain analysis for the

enterprise promoted through the

project

£ ’Mystery shoppers’ or Dummy

tourists for the rural tourism set up

£ Assess capacity building needs and

requirements for the service

providers

Water Hole census.

(2,229 hours)

£ Assist the park management at

Ranthambore National park to

undertake a census of wild animals

£ Park management has the count of

wild animals in the reserve and

helps in measuring the success of

park management to protect wildlife


Learns the importance of wildlife and

forest management

Cerena Day – National

Bee day.

( 67 hours)

£ Support the promoting NGO - Under

The Mango Tree to spread awareness

on Bees

£ Throughout the year, identify and

create platforms of promoting UTMT

honey

£ Higher sale of honey promotes

higher production of honey and thus

enterprise development


Learns the importance of apiculture

and experiences first hand the strong

impact of effective awareness

£ Assess the impact of the project as

intended

£ Value chain analysis helped

ascertain the marketability of the

products and capacity building gaps

that were then incorporated in the

project plan


Learns the role of enterprise in rural

development

£ Village tourism management

committees get to experience.

model tourists which help build

confidence and set in place systems

£ Identify gaps in products offering

and design capacity building

programs for the service providers


Learns the role of enterprise and eco-

tourism in rural India

magic hands at work – programs and outcomescontinued ...

39 40ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014

Livelihoods in the hills

of Uttarakhand

(2,677 hours)


socio-economic baseline

Grassroutes £ Prepare process maps and operating

manual for the organisation

£ Improve Operational efficiency of

the NGO


Gain understanding on functioning of

a social enterprise

£ The baseline survey helps in

designing of project intervention


Gain an understanding on rural

livelihoods and its dependence on

natural resources



volunteer speak Deepali Gupta

Through numerous sessions and discussions in

MHAW, we were made aware of our eco-system and

how each individual can contribute to protect it. The

sessions also gave an insight into various community

initiatives being undertaken within RBS, through the

Foundation. I believe, MHAW is a balanced mix of

awareness-raising sessions, thought-provoking

discussions and hands-on community work packaged

neatly into a span of two days!

Nagesh Mahindrakar

The Magic Hands At Work experience in Gujarat was

insightful. As part of MHAW, we conducted a survey

to capture details about agriculture activities like

input requirements, type of crops, cropping pattern

and production. These details would help the project

make a business plan for the farmers owned

Producer Company and establish direct access with

the market. During the course of interaction with

farmers, I learnt several things about agriculture and

the issues they face. I am proud to have been

associated with MHAW.

Simran Tiwana

The biggest takeaway from the MHAW workshop was

that I got my inspiration back - seeing the work

happening on ground, number of people genuinely

wanting to make a difference took away the

cynicism. Additionally, found the means: start small,

dip into expertise available at RBS Foundation India,

use the first success as the base for more initiatives

to follow.

Sumit Gupta

The best part about being a volunteer with MHAW is

opportunity to interact with people at the grass root

level. We get to understand everyday challenges of

people in rural India. It is good to see footprints of

RBS in these areas and the work on economic

inclusion. I feel proud of my association with RBS.

Upasana Shukla

Volunteering through MHAW is an insightful

experience. At the Supporting Enterprise Project in

Madhya Pradesh, I had the opportunity to interact

with students, educate and be educated on different

subjects like biodiversity, protecting forests and

wildlife. The knowledge sharing on the importance

of corridors and the need to protect them was

beautifully explained by RBS Foundation India. At

Uttrakhand, it was altogether a different experience

to see how people struggle for their livelihood.

Assessing their socio-economic condition through a

survey was a learning experience.

Participation in MHAW not only benefits the

community through the projects it simultaneously

enriches the volunteers with great experiences! The

experience gained by volunteering for social causes

is far more than what we give.

Vijay Sethi

The volunteering visit to the RBS Foundation India’s

Supporting Enterprise project was an enriching

experience. Through the interactions with women of

Self Help Groups, I learnt about the impact the

project has had on their lives, their learning's and

financial independence. I feel proud to have been a

part of the volunteer squad.

41

Enterprise development has been the primary tool

for poverty alleviation in India and it has seen

varying degrees of success depending upon several

factors such as the risk taking ability of the

community, access to factors of production,

infrastructure and supply chains etc. Such programs

lead to quantitative as well as qualitative impacts on

the community. Quantitative impacts include

increased incomes, savings and financial security of

the households, access to financial and banking

services etc., while qualitative impacts include

enhanced social capital such as participation in

village governance, higher attendance and

enrolments in schools (especially girls), community

harmony, family well being etc.

RBS Foundation India projects till now have touched

87,000 households and the quantitative impact are

continously tracked. However, we also bring out

some of the qualitative impacts from the ‘Supporting

Enterprise’ projects as revealed by the field visits

undertaken by the RBS FI team.

Human Development and Quality of Life Indicators

There is evidence that projects have had a positive

impact on human development indicators, such as

food security, cash incomes, access to healthcare

and school attendance especially where these are

directly linked to households that have started

earning a substantive sustainable source of income

from the enterprise that have been set up.

Women Empowerment

All forms of social capital have increased

substantially in the ‘Supporting Enterprise’ projects.

The projects have contributed to a gender awareness

and realisation of entitlement and rights as well as

practical means to lay claim on these. Gender has

come to be a central organising principle of the

project and has successfully been mainstreamed or

targeted in all projects.

Equity

Equity is an integral part of the project architecture.

All segments of the village community i.e. landless

farmers, small and marginal farmers, artisans and

women are encouraged to participate and take a

leadership role in the smooth functioning of formal

institutions such as Gram Panchayats, Village

Development Committees, and Eco- Development

Committees and play a more decisive role in their

functioning. They lead enterprises that ensure

sustainable livelihoods for them and their families.

The new bread winner

In each family, there has been an addition of at least

one new bread winner after the household received

support for their livelihoods. Women reported

having a formal stake in the household’s basket of

livelihood activity. With the focus on women in our

strategy, a clear social impact is of confidence and

empowerment as the woman now commands more

say in household decisions.

Drudgery

Drudgery in women was a key restraint to

productivity of women and their contribution on

household incomes. Setting up of household

enterprise combined with knowledge and

implementation of improved techniques has

resulted in reducing the drudgery in women

42

the onward journey;our people, their stories



SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE 43

significantly. Women no longer have to spend long

hours on household work which has increased their

work productivity sufficiently.

Migration

Since the community had adopted enterprises that

have started earning the households a sustainable

source of income, migration of youth from the

villages has reduced. This stabilises a rural family

and ownership towards local livelihoods increases

significantly.

Reduction in community conflicts

Formal institutions and decision making bodies

empowered with knowledge and equal rights have

reduced community conflicts significantly and

enhanced community harmony and wellbeing.

Awareness and ownership for resource

management

Through knowledge and capacity building sessions,

the community has been able to understand the

need to optimally use our natural resources in a non-

exploitative manner. Ownership of the resources has

contributed to their effective conservation and

preservation.

The community is at the core of the project

architecture and implementation. The ability of the

communities that we have worked with to adopt

practices that are sustainable for them, nature and

the community at large is commendable. The sheer

ability of an individual, household and community to

adapt on understanding the merit of doing so, has

largely contributed to their well being and

development.

The onward journey:continued ...

Documents

supporting enterprise - RBS · PDF fileRBS FOUNDATION INDIA SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE ANNUAL REPORT | 2013 - 2014 2 As a responsible stakeholder in the community, RBS is